Have you considered who would look after your family if you were injured, or even died? How would your family cope if you lost your income? How long could your family meet their financial obligations if your household lost the major breadwinner? Do you know how much cover you have at the moment?

Given the risks we face 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, personal insurance can prove invaluable. Many of the insurance products available these days can provide cover when you need it most.

There are two main types of personal insurance products that are available: lump sum types that pay you a lump sum after a certain event and income payments where the benefit is paid to you on a regular basis.

Life insurance helps your dependants cope financially after you die. The lump sum payment can be used to help pay off the mortgage, funeral costs and other debts and provide capital to be invested to replace lost income.

Total and permanent disability coverage provides you with a lump sum payment to help you cope financially with a total and permanent disability.

Trauma or Crisis Recovery insurance can help you cope financially with the effects that a trauma would have on your life, removing the financial stress and paying for any changes you may need to make to your lifestyle. Your lump sum payment can also pay for recovery costs, including rehabilitation, home modifications and a carer.

Income protection insurance can help you meet your living expenses if you have to stop work due to illness or injury. With payment of up to 75 per cent of your income, you can continue to meet your financial commitments and pay for day-to-day expenses.

If you are self employed, business expenses insurance can help your business cope financially with your inability to earn an income because of sickness, or injury. The regular payment your business receives during the agreed period can help pay for employee salaries, business loan repayments and the day-to-day running of the business.

We find that while everyone's situation is different, a combination of all of these insurances is usually needed to ensure that a family is fully covered. Some of the insurances work together. For example, if you had a heart attack and were unable to work for 8 months while you were recovering, you would receive a lump sum payment from your trauma policy and a regular income from the income protection policy. These insurances working together ensure that the family can meet its normal expenses and have the additional funds available to meet the medical expenses incurred from the heart attack.

While nobody thinks it will happen to them, you should "Plan for the worst and hope for the best". Organise your insurance today.

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